DICK MAKES A GALLANT RESCUE
The fish did not seem in any great humor for taking hold that morning, although the weather conditions were just perfect for the sport, from the view of the boy who had his several poles in favorite places along the bank.
When he first threw in he had a bite before he could get his second hook baited, and the prize was a good pound fish, a beauty that made him exclaim with delight, and consider it a good omen.
But after that the nibbles were few and far between.
The summer sun mounted high in the heavens, and snowy clouds floated across the blue expanse; tired of sitting and watching his various bobs Dick finally settled back with his head on a bunch of grass and watched the beautiful picture above, his thoughts taking flight, as frequently happens with a boy who possesses an imagination.
Perhaps he dreamed day dreams as he watched the fleecy clouds sailing past, each an argosy of boyish hopes; perhaps he saw in imagination a delightful future when he and his mother would be placed beyond anxieties, and surrounded by all that could go to make up happiness in this material world.
Now and then he would arouse himself and examine his lines to see whether the bait were properly adjusted so as to present a tempting display to the bass; and occasionally he would pull in a capture, though they seemed to run in small comparison with the first prize.
Unless business picked up during the afternoon he rather guessed he would have to be satisfied with only a mess for the morrow's dinner.
"I'll get after the rascals bright and early to-morrow morning. No use talking, just after daylight at this time of year is the time to haul in these fellows. But I'm going to stick it out if it takes all day."
So saying he began to look around to discover if there was any other kind of bait he could offer the big fellows he knew were loitering around deep down in that dark water.
He had brought along a piece of mosquito netting to use as a little seine, by means of which he could possibly pick up a few minnows in a certain shallow they liked to frequent.
This he had done on the preceding season, and the change of diet had tempted the bass to take hold with gratifying results.
So he got the net out and was soon endeavoring to trap a few small fry.
He had made a miniature pond a foot or two in width along the side of the river, and into this he meant to drop any bait secured, to keep them alive until wanted.
But even the minnows had almost entirely forsaken that shallow at this time of day, for after working industriously a whole hour he had only succeeded in trapping three.
One of these he used at once, but it brought no success, for the hour was now near noon.
Dick munched at his lunch and watched his floats pensively as the time crept on.
Up to three o'clock he had had only one more bite, but he managed to land the late diner, which proved to be at least the equal of his first capture.
Then came another long wait.
About four he concluded to try another minnow, hoping that the bass were arousing from their mid-day nap and would feel like partaking of a bite.
The river was very pretty just here, and the current rather slow, for the banks had widened; only for this deep hole the stream was shallow, and since the rains had been few and far between of late Dick fancied he could almost wade across to the opposite shore should the occasion arise.
Strange to say the idea of taking a swim had not occurred to him, as it certainly must have done had there been another boy along; he was too much engrossed in his fishing, and the laying out of plans for the future to think of these material joys so dear to the heart of the ordinary boy.
Just as he had fastened the minnow to his hook, and gently floated this out to the most promising place in the pool he thought he heard voices somewhere close by.
When he listened again he learned that it was a girl's voice he heard.
And strange to say it seemed to come from up the river a little, just around the bend; indeed, as he listened he certainly heard the sound of oars working in the rowlocks, and again a merry voice called out.
Then Dick nodded his head and smiled.
"I know now. It's Bessie Gibbs in her boat. I remember that last year I saw her out rowing once when I was going home. She may come down this way. I wonder who is with her. Seems as if I can't catch any other voice, and yet she is laughing and talking as if somebody was along. I'll soon know, for she seems to be just around the bend, and coming down-stream."
It was curious to see the boy look down at his rather patched garments just then when there was a possibility of a girl coming on the scene.
"Wonder if Bessie would know me with my old regimentals on? I'm rigged out for fishing, and I can't afford to wear the only decent suit I own for this sort of thing. Perhaps she won't want to know me. All right, who cares? But she never seemed that sort of girl at school. I always thought Bessie the prettiest one in the whole bunch. Great Caesar! what's that mean?" he cried, for a shrill scream suddenly smote his ears.
He sprang to his feet and immediately started to run along the bank, heading up the stream, for the point of land with its clump of trees cut off his view.
The screams still continued, accompanied by a splashing of water that alarmed Dick more than ever, for he was now sure that Bessie Gibbs must have fallen overboard, and was in danger of drowning.
He burst through the bushes and stood on the shore.
His first sight of the river at this point relieved him greatly, for he discovered the rowboat half way across, with a little maid in it frantically trying to recover one of her oars that had slipped away in the excitement of the moment.
There was also something struggling furiously in the water at a little distance, and which Dick could not make out at first; but when he shouted at the top of his voice and started to wade out toward the spot the girl turned toward him and wildly beckoned, at the same time crying out:
"Oh! save him, save my poor Benjy—he will drown! Dick! please get him for me!"
It was not a human being in peril at all, only Bessie's pet Angora cat, a fuzzy little creature Dick remembered seeing on the seat of the Gibbs carriage one day when he met Bessie on the road, and she nodded to him, just as friendly as ever.
He pushed resolutely out to where the wretched little beast, having fallen overboard through a miscalculation, was being carried down-stream by the current and in sore peril of meeting death by drowning, since cats are but poor swimmers at best.
Dick was not a cruel boy by nature, and while he might have hesitated about placing his own life in jeopardy in order to save a cat, still, this one was the especial pet of a girl who had been his classmate in school for several years.
The water grew deeper, and soon he had to swim, which, considering the fact that he was burdened with his clothes was not the easiest thing in the world to do.
But Dick had always been noted for his ability to look out for himself in the water, and he was not long in reaching the struggling creature.
DICK MANAGED TO CATCH THE LITTLE TERROR BY THE NAPE OF THE NECK.
Dick the Bank Boy [Page 53]
He received one scratch from its claw as the frightened cat tried to secure a lodging on his head, but by a little cautious work Dick finally managed to catch the little terror by the nape of the neck, and finding lodgment against a sunken boulder for his feet he waited until the boat containing the little miss floated down to him, when he tossed poor Benjy over the gunwale, a ridiculous looking object to be sure, but at least safe and sound.
"Oh! Dick, climb in; you may be drowned yourself!" cried Bessie, making as if to seize hold of the lad who had so promptly gone to the rescue of her pet.
At that Dick laughed aloud.
"I'm too much of a waterdog for that, Bessie. But while I'm in I might as well do the whole thing. Now watch me go after that floating oar of yours," and so saying he started to move down-stream again.
This time he drew the boat after him, and just opposite his fishing hole he managed to overtake the runaway oar, now held against a jutting rock, and speedily placed it in the possession of the girl.
"Won't you go home with me to get dried out, Dick?" asked Bessie, looking at him in sincere admiration as he stood up in the water, and pulled the boat toward the shore.
"What, me? Why, this is a picnic for a boy at this time of year. I'm going to wring the worst of it out, and then row your boat back up the river for you. Why, long before I go home my luxurious fishing suit will be dried on me. Saves pressing, you know, Bessie. And by cutting a few sticks like clothes-pins I can snap them on along the front and get a beautiful crease!"
She laughed at his merry conceit, for Dick had always been a favorite of hers among the school companions of other days.
He was as good as his word, and persisted in rowing the boat back to the landing from which she had started out; while Bessie sat there fondling her Angora kitten, and rubbing its bedraggled hairy form with her little handkerchief.
Dick went back to his fishing, amused at his little adventure, and never once suspecting what a tremendous influence such a small thing was destined to have on his whole future.
To his delight he found another captive tugging furiously at the line on which he had placed his minnow, and it proved to be by far the largest prize of the day, very little short of two pounds.
"To-morrow I will try and get a lot of live bait. I believe they fancy them at this season of the year. What, that last one hardly sank down before it was taken and this seems to be a jim-dandy of a boy too by the way he pulls. I hope I don't lose him now," and he began to play the captive as cautiously as his experience in landing tricky bass had taught him how.
After successfully tiring the fish out he managed to get him on the string with the others, but he had no more minnows, and as the fastidious bass would not look at common earth worms after that Dick was compelled to give up for the day, take his fair-sized string of fish and poles, and start trudging homeward.